


Thalassa Shells

by Kye (Kyelidescope)



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Drama, F/M, Friendship, Memory, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-03
Updated: 2018-02-01
Packaged: 2019-02-27 18:51:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,961
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13254498
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kyelidescope/pseuds/Kye
Summary: Roxas, now resting within Sora, has all the time in the world to talk with Namine, a fellow Nobody whose powers involve memory. There's holes in his - Sora's - memory, and Roxas can't exactly remain at peace knowing he has forgotten something.Something dear to him.It's not something deep and dark like Sora's link to Ventus, but it's personal, Like the WINNER stick he got from eating Sea Salt Ice cream after missions with his best friends, like how Kairi would give Sora a charm made from Thalassa Shells.Who did he eat Ice cream with again?





	1. Chapter 1

_What am I doing here?_

 

Roxas’s cheeks were still damp, and he could feel the tear streaks running down his face. He could see the teardrops drying on the warm stone floor, heated by the sun that always seems to be setting. Or rising, he might not know. 

It was quiet in the area. He couldn’t hear the low hum of activity, nor the trains that would set off for their destination in the train station behind him. He was battle worn, with fresh wounds and bruises. He didn’t see them underneath his black heavy coat, but he could feel them throbbing. 

He was on his knees, and he felt the pang in his heart that came after something sad happened. But he had no recollection of what had transpired.

He barely felt the sensation of someone’s hand holding his. It must’ve been a figment of his imagination. His other hand, the hand that wielded his Keyblade, was shaking, as would be after a battle.

Had he fought someone here? Was it someone special? Someone important?

He felt he had lost something. Someone. He couldn’t remember. He just couldn’t remember. It must be someone dear to him.

Was it someone dear to him?

Why did he forget? Roxas curses silently to himself.

Roxas tries to remember everything. It’s been almost a year since he came into being. He went out on missions for Organisation XIII, and he often hung out on the clock tower eating ice cream with Axel and -

 

_And?_

 

He can’t remember. It’s strange. Nothing comes up. It’s not a fuzzy memory, it’s just blank. 

 

Roxas was feeling tortured over this lost memory. Who is this person? Is it a boy? Is it a girl? Are they a member of the same organisation he and Axel are in?

Why can’t he remember? Why can’t he remember even a tiny detail? Their name, their favorite object, anything?

 

* * *

 

Roxas can’t trust his own memories.

 

Namine, however, manipulates it like it’s nothing. For such a heavy burden she is able to alter the fiber of a person’s identity with a simple swipe of a finger. She can see through a person and be able to know everything about them and if she wanted to, bend them to her will, just by seeing and manipulating memories.

She sits across the table from him, a muted white just like every other piece of furniture and interior element in the room, save for her hand drawn crayon drawings on the wall. 

He isn’t wearing his black robe, and his memories are all messed up. Layered on top of each other. His real memories aren’t his, his own memories have this wide hole in them, and the memories of the person he is now are fake, fabricated like this digital world modeled after the world he used to spend time in.

He is asking a lot of questions, about himself. His identity. He has lost his memories, but they aren’t lost. 

And she can see that. She feels sad for him, how he has that hole in his memories, both mended and left severed at the same time. 

 

* * *

 

Roxas sees Namine often. They may not have the ability to bridge the distance between them, even if they logically have bridged that gap, the two can’t touch each other. They’re like spirits, only inside someone’s body. Sometimes resting more often than not. 

Roxas is still struggling to fix that hole in his memory. He has attained peace on his fate as a person who shouldn’t exist, yet it’s obvious that this isn’t truly over.

He has asked once, in their brief conversation that lasted only for a few seconds.

 

“If nobodies go away, do people still remember them?”

 

She couldn’t answer that question. Their time is up.

She didn’t really want to be the harbinger of bad news, and she also didn’t want to answer it.

 

* * *

 

Namine has the ability to see into Roxas’s memory. Into Sora’s memory.

Yet, when they meet up and converse like always, Namine never answers his questions about it. Roxas always postpones this until the middle of the conversation, with enough time for her to answer and enough time for him to accept it. He knows their time too meet with each other is limited and that whenever he asks about this weird hole in his memory, the conversation turns sour from what should be playful, flirty, and formal. 

Namine would point out that his memories aren’t his anymore, but Sora’s memory. She would correct him, saying that he should ask about the hole in Sora’s memory, but she would then say that Sora has alot of holes in his memory, partially because of the fraction of heart he recieved from someone.

But Sora doesn’t know that last bit, so Roxas should keep quiet when it comes to holes in Sora’s memory, lest Sora thinks of something about his past and ask questions before it’s time for him to get them answered.

 

_He’d want to save the owner of this heart fraction, and he’s not ready for it._

 

* * *

 

Roxas wasn’t this persistent about his memories before. When the two reunited and returned to their Somebodies, Roxas was at peace, and he enjoyed the long talks he had with Namine. The two of them would talk about everything, both serious and random. The questions he had before meeting Sora didn’t show up often now that he was within Sora. They were just as close to each other as Sora is to Kairi, only Roxas felt shyer and more calm compared to Sora’s hyper attitude. On Namine’s end, she was much wiser than Kairi.

The things he often said changed drastically when Mickey’s letter arrived. Namine knew very well what had happened to cause this. She knew that Mickey had seen the numerous people linked to the heart of the boy named Sora. He saw those who lay asleep, and those who were gone. The trio’s predecessors – Terra, the man in the darkness, Aqua, the woman wandering endlessly, and Ventus, the boy whose heart rests within Sora – and the people who were never supposed to exist.

 

Roxas.

 

Axel.

 

Xion.

 

* * *

 

When Roxas dreams, Sora dreams the same.

 

He sees that scene over and over again. The scene where he ends up crying after a long battle without knowing why he cried. Now the dream extends to fighting against a person of his kind. Yet this person is fuzzy when he tries to remember them, like a blurred out spot in a photograph when someone tries to censor something.

 

He can’t remember a thing. The details are coming back, yet at a rate too slow. Back then he wouldn’t have remembered the fighting.

He doesn’t know their fighting style, nor their weapon and magic preferences.

He doesn’t know why the fight even started at all.

 

His dreams continue still.

 

Then he sees it.

 

Black hair, and striking blue eyes.

 

_Who are you?_


	2. Chapter 2

Sora woke up with a jump. He was sweating a bit, and the sun is just over the horizon.

He was dreaming about Roxas again, peering into his memories.

 

He saw her. The girl with the jet black hair and Kairi’s deep blue eyes. The girl he saw in his dream of The World That Never Was during the Mark of Mastery Examination. The dream that really was just a trap.

She looks so, so much like Kairi.

But she couldn’t be Kairi’s Nobody. That should be Namine. Right?

Then again, Sora and Kairi’s nobodies were different from the others, given the situation in which both of them lost their hearts.

 

_Would Riku know something about this?_

 

* * *

 

Sora nearly stepped on Kairi’s Thalassa shell charm, a new one she made to prove that she’s improving well in the craft.

And due to the fact that the last one broke, and the one before that was missing. The very first one she made, however, was safe at Kairi’s place.

 

Roxas stood still as he saw through Sora’s eyes as the boy walked to the beach. It was a weekend, and with nothing better to do everyone on the Island, without a doubt, will go to the beach. Riku’s house was beside the beach he was heading for, and throughout the journey Roxas couldn’t help but stare at the Thalassa charm.

 

He wasn’t foreign to the tiny shell. The shells were found by a beach far from Twilight Town, and –

 

_And?_

Roxas’s memory stopped. He knows that these shells were important to him. He woke up in his bed to find colorful shells of different kinds next to his pillow once. And somehow, he should’ve been able to take a guess at who had left them there.

He remembers why he was in a comatose state that time. But why can’t he remember the person who left the shells in his room?

Why can’t he remember the person who showed him a Thalassa shell after a mission to the beach?

 

Sora ran faster. Roxas’s head was throbbing.

 

* * *

 

 

Riku was cleaning in the house when there was the sound of a door opening. Sora found him in the kitchen, moments after he finished, as he was clearing up the dinner table after eating a fruit bowl. 

He looked disturbed. Uncomfortable.

 

“Something wrong?”

 

This isn’t the first time Sora did this. Whenever Sora came to Riku this way, there was something urgent that he needed to ask, or a dangerous situation where Riku’s help was needed really badly.

But at a time of peace like this, where their adventures involving Kingdom Hearts have long passed, Riku could only guess at what Sora would ask.

It’s always something involving Ventus or Roxas.

Sora had learned to get straight to the point when asking. The first few times, he felt uncomfortable to bring up the rough teenagehood, especially on Riku’s end, where he had done most of the hard work to make sure Sora makes it back home alive.

 

“How many Nobodies do I have?”

 

* * *

 

Sora isn’t the type to get anxious easily. Even now, he looks unsettled, but somewhere deep inside him, he is somehow freaking out. 

Riku went and explained again, how Roxas happened due to his brief time as a Heartless and due to the short duration, made him different. Namine is logically Kairi’s Nobody, but her Heart was inside Sora the whole time and Namine was only made once Sora turned into a Heartless and somehow got weird powers that allowed her to manipulate memory.

 

“And the other girl?” Sora asked. His hands were wrapped around a glass of iced lemon tea, but Sora hadn’t drank a sip.

Riku’s eyes widened.

“You saw her too, right?” Sora asked. “The girl with the black hair.”

 

Riku knew of four people who in a way, shared identities with Sora and had ties to his heart.

Ventus, the predecessor whose heart is linked to Sora’s.  
Vanitas, Ventus’s darkness extracted in a plan to form the X-Blade.  
Roxas, Sora’s nobody.  
And the girl he saw in Sora’s heart, when he dived into Sora during the Mark of Mastery Examination 

She looked so much like Kairi, yet Riku could see how sad she was.

 

“I did.” He admitted quietly.

 

“I dreamed of her yesterday.” Sora starts. “I think it was Roxas’s memories.”

 

“Riku, do you know anything about this girl?”

 

“I can’t say I know this girl.” Riku sighs. “I recognize the face, but I can’t seem to remember any memories about her.”

“Please, anything.” Sora begs. His grip on the glass tightens.

“You’re bringing up dark stuff, Sora.” Riku sighs. “The stuff that happened when you were asleep.”

 

“Just tell me.”

 

Riku sits down on the table from his position of leaning against the fridge.

 

“Your memories were stolen by your Nobody and the memory repair was halted for some time. 

“You caught Roxas for that reason, right?” Sora added.

“It was much more complicated than that.”

 

“A fraction of the stolen memories were involved in a Replica made by Xemnas.”

 

* * *

 

“Is that it?” Sora asked.

Riku sighs again. He looks lost for words. “That’s the only thing I can remember.”

“Do you think Lea might know her?” Sora asks, a little let down.

“I don’t think anyone who came across this girl remembers her anymore.”

“Then how can you still remember that?”

 

“Namine.” Riku finally reveals. “Namine had told me that while you were asleep.”

 

“Have you met her?” Sora asks.

“I think so.”

 

“I think she was dear to Lea and Roxas.”

 

“She was probably never meant to exist.”

 

* * *

 

Tears fell from Roxas’s eyes. His fists were clenched and he was having a hard time holding back his rage.

 

_But nobodies..?_ He hears Sora ask.  
 _They were not supposed to exist, Sora. Keyword 'supposed.'_

 

Namine knows. She knows, but she never wanted to answer his questions about this girl he has long forgotten.

 

How many people has this girl came across? How many people lost their memories and went on with their lives without knowing that they had forgotten something?

Riku remembers he had forgotten something. Lea would, too.

 

But Roxas can’t talk to Riku right now physically, and Sora has no clue, except that he has only seen her once.

 

_Sora..?_ Riku asks. _You’re.._

Sora is crying. Roxas notes how Sora is wiping the tear from his eyes, surprised as well.

 

_I think It’s Roxas._ He frowns. _I’ve been seeing a lot of his memories lately._

_The girl means a lot to him, then._ Riku comments.

 

“You have no idea.” Roxas mutters out loud.

 

_We fought once._ Riku adds. _His last battle was against me, and the two of us had forgotten her name by then already._

_I can tell how much he wants her back, though._


	3. Chapter 3

A thunderclap sounds off and the lights blink off. Sora barely made it home in time, drenched and soaking wet. He didn’t mind the feeling – he had gotten used to it already despite the difficulties to use magic in such weather.

Roxas’s last battle might’ve been during a storm.

Thinking about it left a sour feeling at the back of his throat. The day destiny island was destroyed, it was also during a storm.

The rain continues still.

 

* * *

 

Roxas hadn’t seen Namine yet. He wondered what he’d ask her when she finally showed up. 

Namine told him to be vary of his actions. Whatever he does here reflects in Sora’s actions and reactions. It’s why she was so reserved until Sora and Kairi met up, and in a way also contributed to the spark between them as she conversed with Roxas.

Sometimes Roxas wonders why the two of them are still awake, standing like this watching everything and unable to do anything about it.

Would it be better if Roxas remained asleep instead?

 

* * *

  

A lightning strike had struck a few houses away from Kairi’s last night.

Sora rushed over immediately when he heard the news, concerned.

Kairi never liked storms, ever since Radiant Garden was destroyed by one. He arrived long after the damage had been done, decimating the house and leaving burns on its neighbors. Kairi was sitting on the front porch, watching idly as people gathered outside.

If the storm set a house on fire, what could be happening by the beach, where Riku lives?

“Hey.” Sora called out.  
“Hi.” Kairi replied in a quiet voice.

 

* * *

 

Roxas is lost in thought. He must be thinking about Xion again. He must’ve learned something new.

He probably knows that she is hiding it from him.

“Roxas.” Namine softly calls.

Should she give him his answers?

“What happened to her?” He blurts in frustration, confirming her predictions. “Why was she never meant to exist?”

 

* * *

 

Namine doesn’t know a lot about the girl. Even if, through the hidden chain of memories that Sora – and Roxas – has any clue that reveals who she is, it’s not a lot of information.

She spoke as much as she knows from eavesdropping on the other members and from her own knowledge from her struggles in fixing Sora’s memories. It was all facts and none of them were personal. Like a biography, Roxas still has no idea who this girl was and why he cared a lot about her.

Everyone barely remembers the facts of this person, but no one knows who she really was.

“This isn’t fair.” He stammers, trying to search for the right words. “No one forgot about us, but why her?”

“She was _created._ An artificial life form. A replica of yourself.” She continues. “She had a purpose as your substitute.”

“Stop.” Roxas protests, trying to get air.

“You were absorbing Sora’s memories. She could be doing the same as well. If she was still alive, you wouldn’t be here.”

“Stop!”

 

A pause.

 

“I knew this would happen.”

 

“Why didn’t you tell me this sooner? Of all the unresolved questions, you kept this one hidden? Are you purposely leaving this out and stalling my peace?”

“The same would happen if I told you right after Sora went home after Xemnas’s battle.”

Roxas is still searching for words. His frustration is growing.

“No one is supposed to know they forgot a memory. It will just hurt them.”

“Especially if it’s about a girl who was never meant to exist.”

 

Roxas remained at a loss.

 

“You can’t do anything about it even if I did tell you a long time ago. You won’t be able to handle the feeling of realizing that you forgot someone you loved.”

If Sora got emotional when he realized that he forgot about the girl he likes, what would happen to Roxas? And if Roxas had a mental breakdown here thinking about this girl, how will that play out for Sora?

And if they do remember it again, they’ll hold onto it for life.

But she has to consider the fact that Riku and Lea, who had seen the girl in person, have to worry about their own responsibilities and move on from darker experiences. And unlike Roxas, none of them were as close to the girl as him.

She is able to decipher all of that from just looking into him.

Roxas is left alone.

 

_Am I not enough, Roxas?_

 

* * *

 

“Why are you so persistent on remembering her again?” Namine exclaims. “You can’t bring her back to life just by remembering her again.”

Roxas refuses to answer. He was having a hard time processing all of this information.

Namine speaks from experience. That he can tell. He knows how she manipulated Sora’s memory. She had seen secondhand what memories could do to someone.

He wonders if Riku knows why Sora had to undergo memory repair. If he did, had he told Sora that he too, forgot someone?

 

People forget things all the time, don’t they?

 

 

“Roxas, am I not enough for you?”

 

  

She fades away.

 

 

Roxas still doesn’t know her name.


	4. Chapter 4

Sora broke through the water, fish in hand, trying to wriggle free. He had caught several now, his woven basket filled with fish desperately leaping and gasping for water.

He dove back in again after stocking the fish. The sun is high in the sky, its rays clear in the water. It’s quiet down here, and Sora can find the opportunity to spend time alone with his thoughts.

He had a strange dream last night.

 

* * *

 

Roxas stood close to the edge. He can see everything from here. The hills in the distance, the tall train tracks, the plaza and the shops, even the old manor concealed behind the forest. 

The Thalassa shell he found on the ground many floors below rests in his pocket, safe and sound.

It was odd to find a shell in the middle of a large town so far away from the beach. He’s heard the significance of such a tiny shell – Lucky charms were crafted from this small thing to represent safe passage and everlasting relationships.

He felt a sense of déjà vu standing here for some reason. Has he done this exact same thing before, at the very edge of Twilight Town’s clock tower?

Roxas stepped off the ledge. He lost track of the days that had passed after finding this shell on the ground. He remembered waking up in bed to see many shells beside his pillow, each one sporting bright and saturated colors that heavily contrasted against the bleak off white that painted the majority of Organisation XIII’s stronghold.

Roxas took one last look at the plane, taking a deep breath. It felt like he would never come back here ever again.

He spotted a small figure in black walking into the tunnels.

 

* * *

 

Sora swam back up for air, breathing deeply. The dream was odd – it wasn’t one of Roxas’s memories like usual.  
He waded back to shore, picking up his basket and walking back home in wet clothes, pondering if he should consult Riku about this.

 

* * *

 

The beach, as well as Riku’s house, was a mess. Seaweed and driftwood and bits of trash and bleached coral and broken shells were scattered everywhere. The window panes had bits of salt dislodged on it and it seemed that water had seeped in.

Riku had spent a good portion of the day cleaning up his house and its surroundings. By the time he finished, a large gathering of people had showed up at the beach, slowly cleaning it up. 

Riku can’t help but think about the conversation he had with Sora about Roxas and his past. The signs were clear – Sora’s nobody is slowly trying to retake Sora’s body as he struggles to remember that friend who never existed. Sora could be at risk if he doesn’t have the capacity to keep his Nobody in check.

 

* * *

 

When Namine returned to Kairi, she wondered why she was still awake inside Kairi’s body. She returned the same time Roxas did, and the two conversed as they learned to accept this new kind of life. 

She used the time well. She helped guide Kairi in battle, subconsciously serving her second pair of eyes and influencing her to avoid attacks from the rear. While talking to Roxas she was able to get Sora and Kairi closer than before.

Roxas might’ve got over it already, but Namine couldn’t really accept that she was still conscious. And yet, she still had the yearning to join Sora and Riku as a real person, not someone they no longer talk of.

If Roxas is still here, he also must’ve had something he regretted;

 

He forgot the identity of the person who became his undoing.

 

* * *

 

The three of them had dinner at a diner by the pier. The sun is setting over the waters and the pier’s colorful lights are glowing brighter and brighter with the passage of time. Old songs are playing from the stereo, blending in with the kitchen noises and the sound of silverware against plates. 

Riku showed up late, coming in the diner to see Sora and Kairi deep in conversation.

 

_How could two people basking in so much light hold such dark and dangerous Nobodies?_

 

He made a mental note to keep an eye on them, probably consult the archives on Nobodies again. He might run a search about Replicas and synthesized humanoids as well.

 

* * *

 

Roxas replays the dream again. 

He caught up with the girl in the hood. He remembers telling her to wait, her name on the tip of his tongue.

His memories are steadily tricking back.

 

_‘The fourteenth member-‘_

 

* * *

 

Sora is hyperventilating.

 

* * *

 

The memories are rushing into him now, a replay at twice the speed. Twice as fast, twice as painful. 

 

“Roxas.” A voice cut through. “Stop.”

 

Roxas isn’t responding.

 

“You’re hurting Sora.”

 

Tears are running down Roxas’s cheek as he sees it all. Namine turns around, noticing all the chains of memories link together, heal, and glow. Strengthen.

 

_This isn’t going well for me._

 

Through Kairi’s eyes, she sees Sora quietly freaking out. Riku and Kairi are continuously trying to console him, Kairi doing most of the work.

A chain whizzes behind Namine, soaring towards Roxas. The sees each link and each memory, all of them embedded in a golden hue.

 

She strikes it down. The glow blinks out and the chain fractures.

 

Roxas falls. So does Sora.

 

* * *

 

Her name is Xion.

 

“Xion.” He says aloud, as if to test the waters.

 

The faceless girl in the hood does not respond.

 

 

“Xion.”

 

* * *

 

The moment Sora collapses on the ground, Riku sees Kairi’s hands shaking. Her skin turns pale and before he knows it, Kairi has fainted as well.

 

_This is Namine’s work._

 

* * *

 

Sora dreams of endless white hallways and a girl with blonde hair.

 

* * *

 

Kairi sees a foreign world.

 

* * *

 

Xion is the girl Roxas loves. His memories of her are so vivid, yet why is this girl a blank slate?

 

Why is she merely a puppet?

 

“Is this who you really are?” _A person who truly wasn’t supposed to exist?_

  

He recalls everything Namine told him.  
She wasn’t lying. 

Roxas wasn’t lying if he said that he misses her. He wants to hug her. He wants to kiss her.

But this isn’t Xion. Doing all that to a puppet wouldn’t make him feel anything. It wouldn’t lift his burden nor make him happy.

And Namine was right – he couldn’t do anything about it. He had to move on and end this sorry life. He can’t really bear to live on without a physical body and see the world through someone else, can he?

 

The puppet has a keyblade in hand.

 

* * *

 

Riku took a deep dive after carrying Sora and Kairi to his house, trying to confirm his suspicions.

 

Riku had been wary of Namine from the start. He wasn’t wrong to think it so. 

“You shouldn’t have come here.” She whispers into his ear, sending chills down his spine.

On his knees like this, Riku found himself powerless to do anything. “You witch.”

If Namine really does have his way, she’s bound to take over Kairi and have Sora all for himself.

_What would happen to Kairi if that happens?_

Namine steps closer. “It’s nice to have two lovely warriors at my beck and call. Even if that first one was faked, I still crave to see two young men fighting for me.”

Namine slowly bites his ear.

“This chain,” She holds up the lone dull memory link. “Is the reason why Kairi forgot about Sora – this chain is the most fragile one among the rest.”

“Maybe I should fill it.” She coos, moving closer as she wraps her arms around Riku.

 

“Don’t you-“

“But I should deal with you first, right?”

 

“Should I break you to my will like what they did to your replica, or have you remain in limbo for good?”

 

* * *

 

_“I love you.”_

 

Roxas woke up with tears in his eyes and a keyblade in hand. 

The Thalassa shell must’ve been from her after their last spar. That clearly explains why he saw that first dream days ago.

He notices Namine in the distance.

 

“Roxas?”

 

“Namine.” He tries to hide his keyblade. Namine never tried to talk to him from this far of a distance.

 

This isn’t right.

 

Her smile isn’t genuine.

 

* * *

 

Namine had two options.

 

Claim Roxas and strengthen bonds between Sora and Kairi – and pose no explicit risk to anyone.

Take over Kairi, stay alive, and have the boys to herself in her own selfish ways.

 

* * *

 

“I have a question.” Roxas asks gingerly. “Why are we still here?” 

 

“Why am I still here? We may not be our Somebodies, but why are we condemned to watch their lives? How are we not fading away or taking over?”

Namine doesn’t answer directly. He must’ve caught her off guard.

 

Roxas is playing it cautiously. “You said it yourself, right?”

 

* * *

 

Riku is left on the ground, breathless. He watches as Namine makes her way with a smirk on her face, walking towards Roxas and planning to execute her plans. 

Namine is possessive.

 

“Are you going to leave me behind, then?” She asks in a pitiful voice.

 

“I haven’t.” He replies. “You were right, Namine. Knowing everything doesn’t do much other than the satisfaction of knowing it.”

 

“I’m going to be lonely, Roxas.”

 

Roxas backs away. Riku notices his stance – partway between a casual position and a battle pose.

 

“Are you going to go with Xion and disappear, or are you going to stay with me alive?”

 

“Put an end to her, Roxas!” Riku shouts, catching his attention. “She’s gone insane!”

 

Roxas dodges out of the way just as Riku mentions his name, avoiding a close call from a direct attack. Riku didn’t have to analyze Namine to know that she has magic in her fists.

 

“We have so much in common, Roxas.” She smirks. “Why are you avoiding me?”

 

* * *

 

Roxas had told the puppet – Xion – that he loves her when he dealt the killing blow. Something he didn’t say when he fought her for real.

 

He only said his farewells when it was Namine’s turn.

 

Roxas had only seen Namine as a person he could turn to for answers anyway.

 

* * *

 

Sora and Kairi have yet to wake up and heal. Riku vowed never to take another deep dive again.

Like all traumatizing events, Riku will have difficulty moving on from this one too.

 

He remembered his mental note, wondering how Sora and Kairi will cope with their memories.

 

* * *

 

Roxas finally caught up to Xion.

 

She had ran around Twilight town, sending him on a wild goose chase. Now she stands idly at the ledge of the clock tower, watching the sunset. Red hues cast a halo through her jet black hair and sets a gleam in her eyes. 

Roxas has two packs of sea salt ice cream in hand. Xion has a Thalassa shell in hers.

 

“Ready to go?”


End file.
